224 AMONG THE DRUSES

he said. "In marrying Fouad bey, she married her sixth
cousin. When the French came into Syria under the
mandate,, they made Fouad bey (who was already the ac-
tual governor of the Lebanon Druses) their representa-
tive and gave him the title officially. Many Druses re-
sented his acceptance of the French post. They wanted
absolute independence in the mountains. They felt that
he had sold himself and the family name to the French,
so that a French tyranny could be inflicted on them
through the power of the Jumblatts. Certain bands of
Druse guerrillists—this was as late as 1921—began raid-
ing, fighting, killing French troops that came into the
mountains, and even shooting the Druse agents of Fouad
Jumblatt. Finally they blew up a couple of bridges with
dynamite.

"The guilt was traced to a certain village. Fouad bey
sent a big body of mixed troops there and, in his tem-
per, did a crazy thing which no Druse in his right senses
would ever do. He arrested the Druse women along with
the men and had them all put in a common jail. Among
the women was the wife of a certain famous guerrilla
warrior by the name of Shekib Wahhab. When Shekib
Wahhab learned that his wife had been dragged to jail
with a lot of men, he swore vengeance and organized a
personal feud against Fouad Jumblatt.

"For weeks Fouad never ventured out of this palace ex-
cept surrounded by troops in such force that Shekib and
his men could not attack. They finally got him by a ruse.
Fouad had a favorite manservant who was also hated
because he was a sort of jackal and spy. One night, as
this servant started down the road to the village, the
same road you came up, just beneath the palace walls, he